Oil prices under pressure as investors worry about virus impact on global demand

These prices decreased from last week’s average of $4.44, $3.50, and $5.21, respectively.
PTT also believes refined oil prices will be $65.43 per barrel for gasoline 95 and $68.88 for diesel.
The former was predicted to drop by around $4.96 this week, while the latter would see a decrease of $6.17 on average.
One of the negative factors affecting oil prices is the outbreak of the new coronavirus, which has hit oil demand and global economic growth.
The number of deaths caused by the coronavirus was 361 worldwide, and the World Health Organisation announced on January 30 that the virus was a public health emergency of international concern.
US petroleum producer Hess Corporation expects 2020 production from numerous sources to be 330,000 to 335,000 barrels per day.
The National Oil Corporation (of Libya) reported that oil production dropped to 288,000 barrels per day. This would soon go down to 70,000 barrels per day if infrastructure related to oil production and exports were blockaded by General Khalifa Haftar’s army.
Baker Hughes also reported that production at US rigs (January 27-31) decreased from the previous week to 675,000 barrels.
PPT said investment banking company Goldman Sachs has reduced its estimation of China’s economic growth this year to 5.5 per cent from 5.9 per cent due to the outbreak of the virus.
However, China’s Central Bank plans to stimulate the country’s economy by purchasing securities with reverse repo. The investment value was around 1.2 trillion yuan, or $1.74 billion.
The latest Reuters survey said Opec crude oil production in January decreased to 28.35 million barrels per day, with a compliance rate of 133 per cent, a reduction from 155 per cent in December.